


Peggy Carter's Day Off

by keysburg



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Breakfast, F/M, Fluff, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-07 20:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6822877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keysburg/pseuds/keysburg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's no rest for the wicked... a prequel of sorts to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6186304">What Would Peggy Do?</a> but really it's just fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peggy Carter's Day Off

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Paeonia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paeonia/gifts).



>   
>  **HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!**   
>    
>    
> 

The phone rang at 8:00 AM, even before they would normally be at work. It didn’t wake them, Peggy being unable to sleep in even on her day off. That didn’t mean they had gotten out of bed right away, of course. 

By 8:00 they were only lingering over their leisurely breakfast, waffles with whipped cream and berries and bacon. Peggy was working on her second cup of tea and finishing off all the strawberries. She read a novel while he pored over the sports page. Daniel had to hustle to pick up the receiver before she could, but he managed to snatch it out from under her.

“Carter-Sousa residence. May I help you?” 

“Hey Chief. Is Carter there? I had a question for her.” 

“No, Hartley, she’s not here. I don’t know where she got off to.” He met Peggy’s eyes. She smiled and went back to reading her book.

“You telling me you don’t know where your wife is, Chief?” Daniel rolled his eyes at the teasing. 

“Patch me through to Rose, Hartley. It’s an order.” The line clicked.

“Auberbach Theatrical Agency. How may I direct your call?” 

“Hey, Rose. Remember when we discussed no work calls today?”

“Who was it? Hartley? I’ll put the fear of God into him, Chief.” Rose sounded annoyed. Hartley would regret calling. 

“Thanks, Rose. Have a good day.” 

Not a minute later, the phone rang again. At least he was still on his feet.

“Carter-Sousa residence. May I help you?”

“Hey, Sousa. Put Marge on the phone will ya?” Of course it was Jack. He’s the only one unafraid of Rose’s wrath. The rules never apply to him anyway.

“Thompson. Is the world ending?” 

“Uh, no, not that I’m aware.” 

“Is this a life or death matter?”

“Not yet, but you know how things tend to get out of hand around here.”

“Are you bleeding or in need of immediate rescue?”

“Nope, just need to have a little chat with Peggy.”

“It’ll have to wait. Call here again today, and you will need the assistance of at least one medical professional.” 

Daniel may have put the receiver down a little harder than was strictly necessary. Peggy appeared to still be reading, except for the smirk. It broadened to a smile when the phone rang again. He took a deep breath and calmly unplugged the phone. Then he started to clean up the breakfast dishes. 

“When I get promoted, I’m going to make you my secretary,” Peggy teased.

“Being Chief is bad enough. I’m not sure I could handle the stress.” 

“Yes, but then I could steal a kiss whenever I wanted,” she said, laying her hand on his arm as he reached for her plate. His eyes went to her lips, stained red with strawberries. He shuffled closer and bent down to capture her mouth with his. It was delicious but also awkward, leaning being uncomfortable with the prosthetic. Daniel pulled away, only a little reluctant, laughing when Peggy started to stand to chase after the kiss.

“And then neither of us would ever get anything done. Go get dressed. We need to get out of here before they start knocking on the door.”

* * *

They went to the pier. It’d been awhile but it’s their spot--not very crowded on a weekday, but still sunny and by the water and lacking any sand. Peggy’s barred from the shooting gallery so Daniel tried his hand. He won a stuffed duck that is inexplicably bright green. 

"I love you," Peggy said when he presented the duck to her. "Even if you're not that good a shot."

"Hey," he protested. "I rated proficient in this year's firearm exam. You know these games are rigged." 

"Didn't stop me from winning the giant teddy bear," she said, eyes twinkling.

"At least _I'm_ still allowed to play!" He didn't miss how carefully she tucked the duck under her arm.

The pizza was still terrible--one of these days he wouldn’t give it any more chances. They followed it up with too many churros. The crunch of the sugar reminded him of malasadas at home during the holidays. It was even more delicious when he stole a kiss and tasted it on Peggy’s lips. 

Daniel was trying to convince Peggy to finally give the Ferris wheel a try when a shout went up from the crowd. Someone rushed by, slipping between people with a purse under their arm. Peggy thrust the green duck at Daniel and gave chase. 

He sighed, tucked the duck under his arm and followed just swiftly enough to keep them in sight. He slowed when she followed the thief into a walk-through attraction that boasted “ANIMALS OF AFRICA!” Daniel showed his badge to the attendant and asked the man to direct security inside when they arrived. 

Inside, the attraction was dressed with giant fake vegetation that hung down from the ceiling and the walls. It obscured his line of sight down the zig-zag path, although he could hear Peggy giving someone a proper talking-to. He passed a bored looking monkey, several noisy parrots and a huge snake in a glass case before he found Peggy.

She had the thief in a wrist lock and leaning over the rail of the crocodile enclosure. The huge lizard lay unmoving in a deep pit below, uninterested in the wailing mammal overhead. The thief was a young man, probably still in high school but old enough to know better. He was whining loudly about how Peggy was hurting him while still struggling against her, and eying the croc nervously. 

“Peggy,” Daniel said sternly, “it’s our _day off._ ”

“I know, darling. I quite forgot myself again.” She smiled, but didn’t look away from the crocodile as he approached. “Besides, we probably would have passed by this fascinating attraction otherwise.”

That was Peggy, through and through. Daniel still wasn’t sure if the adventure followed her or she just had the best nose for finding trouble. Either way, conspiracies unfolded in fancy restaurants and dinner parties were derailed by neighborhood mischief. At least she hadn’t stumbled across a homicide this time. 

Besides, it was hard not to laugh at the picture they made. Of course the kid wasn’t in any danger, and Peggy’s hold only hurt because he kept struggling against it. 

“I know you can’t help yourself, but being eaten to death seems too harsh a punishment for the crime. Maybe let him up?” 

“I’m still waiting for an apology,” she replied sweetly. “He took a swing at me.” 

“I’m sorry, okay! Let me go!” the kid wailed. 

“Just sit down right there and stop making a fuss,” she told him.

While out of the sun, the exhibit wasn’t very well ventilated and the air was close with the smells of the animals. It took entirely too long for security to arrive, for Peggy to explain what had happened, and the guard to thank Daniel for Peggy’s efforts. Peggy shook her head when he started to say something, so he broke off. He handed her the duck back before following her out into the fresh air.

They were both loathe to go home, so Peggy finally agreed to the Ferris wheel. On board he was surprised to find her clinging to him, white knuckling the safety bar. He wrapped an arm around her but couldn’t help but tease and shifted his body to make the car swing. If she got any closer Peggy would be in his lap, not that they had room for that. 

“Peggy, you’ve made 12 parachuted jumps, most over occupied territory, and you’re scared of a little ol’ Ferris wheel?”

“It was 15. I packed the chute with my own hands for every one of them. In this horrid contraption, I’m at the whim of whomever supposedly serviced it last. Not to mention if any of those jumps failed, the impact would be so rapid I probably wouldn’t have felt it. If we fall from here, the impact with the pier is unlikely to kill us immediately.”

“I suppose that’s understandable. Hey, is that a whale spout?”

“That’s a very poor attempt at a distraction, Daniel. You can do better than that.”

He did his best and kissed her softly, teasing her lips with his tongue. She made a frustrated sound and tried to deepen the kiss. He responded with a little nip; this was his distraction, after all.

It worked. She relaxed against him long before the car reached the ground, and if he missed most of the view, he didn’t mind.

**Author's Note:**

> H/T again to this fic [by bookishandbossy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6178753) for amusement park (and duck)  
> H/T to [Magnolia Lane by Eienvine](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6690673) for dinner parties and neighborhood mischief  
> Thanks to [irisdouglasiana](http://archiveofourown.org/users/irisdouglasiana/pseuds/irisdouglasiana) for amusement park discussions - the crocodile is their fault.  
> Thanks to [lillianfromaccounting](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lillianfromaccounting/pseuds/lillianfromaccounting) for beta services.
> 
>  [Suggested Reading Order for my canon compliant post S2 fics](http://katiekeysburg.tumblr.com/post/162241330814/ever-wonder-what-order-my-post-season-2-agent)


End file.
